https://zimbabwe.misa.org Strategies for Internet Technology and Digital Rights Reporting training and also violence against journalists, are routinely flagged by researchers 4. For instance, Southern Africa countries including Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia feature in consecutive reports (e.g, the 5State of Internet Freedom Report 2020 and 62019 Digital Rights in Africa report) that track digital violations, including digital rights related arrests perpetrated by governments. In such Southern Africa countries, the internet and its usage is increasingly perceived as a threat, leading to violations of citizens’ digital rights (particularly freedom of expression) and victimisation of actors (such as journalists and news outlets) who highlight such violations. Journalism in Southern Africa is also characterised by resource constrained newsrooms, evershifting communication ecologies due to technology, and realignment of the relationship between producers and consumers of content7. This realignment of the relationship between producers and consumers of content partly explains why 8journalism today is increasingly provided by a diverse set of actors both inside and outside of legacy (i.e traditional/mainstream) media organizations. For instance, researchers found that in mostly Sub-Saharan Africa, non-profit organizations are the leading voices of specialised journalism (particularly data journalism) often 9negotiating their roles between activism, advocacy, and journalism. Such non-profit organizations can be key stakeholders in promoting specialised journalism in internet, technology and digital rights issues. In proffering strategies to promote specialised journalism in internet, technology and digital rights, the paper maintains a bias towards mainstream/traditional media (i.e print, radio and television) actors in: • assessing the capacity of mainstream media journalists to report on internet, technology and digital rights issues. • considering the challenges encountered by mainstream media journalists in pursuing specialised journalism focused on internet, technology and digital rights. • outlining the roles that various stakeholders can play to influence mainstream media coverage of internet, technology and digital rights issues in Southern Africa. 4Lublinski, J., Spurk, C., Fleury, J. M., Labassi, O., Mbarga, G., Nicolas, M. L., & Rizk, T. A. (2016). Triggering change–How investigative journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa contribute to solving problems in society. Journalism, 17(8), 1074-1094. 5See ‘State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2020’ report https://cipesa.org/fifafrica/report-the-state-of-internet-freedom-in- africa-2020/ [Accessed 03 October 2020] 6See ‘Digital rights in Africa Report 2019’, published by Paradigm Initiative https://paradigmhq.org/dra2019/ [Accessed on 16 September 2020] 7Mare, A., Mabweazara, H. M., & Moyo, D. (2019). “Fake News” and Cyber-Propaganda in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recentering the Research Agenda. 8Cheruiyot, D., Baack, S., & Ferrer-Conill, R. (2019). Data journalism beyond legacy media: The case of African and European civic technology organizations. Digital Journalism, 7(9), 1215-1229. 9ibid 3